


Quality Lighting

by aaliona



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Magic, Erotic Photography, Get together fic, Happy Ending, M/M, POV Remus Lupin, POV Sirius Black
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25097230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaliona/pseuds/aaliona
Summary: “Give it back!” Remus pitched forward in a desperate attempt to swipe his phone back from his roommate.“Why?” Sirius asked with a laugh as he started to scroll. “Am I going to find your OnlyFans content or something?”Remus choked out a laugh of his own. “Very funny. Now please—”“Oh.”
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 21
Kudos: 251
Collections: RS Fix It Fest 2020





	Quality Lighting

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the RS Fixit Fest with the theme “Trying new things.” I also found on a list of rp starter prompts, “Please stop going through my phone! Too late, you saw my nudes!” It spiraled from there.
> 
> Big thanks to Pat for betareading this!

When Remus and Peter had gone in blind to a four-person contract on the apartment, pairing with James and Sirius had felt like a lucky break. Yeah, both were a little messy and tended to suck everyone else into the smallest drama, but both were fun and mostly chill. They respected that sometimes Remus just needed a little space. Or at least they usually did.

Sirius liked to push things, liked to figure out how Remus thought, as he put it. Remus hoped he never got there because Remus thought about a lot of things in a lot of different ways, and he didn’t want Sirius to know that, especially when Sirius was not an uncommon thought. 

Still, Remus didn’t think anything of it when Sirius flopped down next to him on the couch. Remus had been half-asleep, a philosophy book for class open on the arm next to him. He was content to continue snoozing. Then he heard Sirius mutter, “What’s this?” and snapped to attention as he realized Sirius had picked up his phone and was looking at the picture Remus had taken from the balcony earlier that day. 

“Give it back!” Remus pitched forward in a desperate attempt to swipe his phone back from his roommate. He normally was conscientious about keeping his phone locked for this very reason. His photos section was a sacred thing where Remus kept certain things no one ever needed to see.

Unaware of the danger, Sirius rolled his eyes and angled further away from Remus’ grasping hands, his knee coming up to put distance between them on the couch. “Relax. I’m not going to do anything. I’m just curious what the world looks like through your camera. Is it as poetic and brooding as you are?”

“Maybe don’t,” Remus said in a rush, still trying to wiggle his way past Sirius’ leg to get the camera. He couldn’t imagine anyone seeing the contents of his phone, but especially Sirius.

“Why?” Sirius asked with a laugh as he started to scroll. “Am I going to find your OnlyFans content or something?”

Remus choked out a laugh of his own. “Very funny. Now please—”

“ _Oh_.”

Not good. This was very much not good, especially when Sirius was still scrolling, his eyes wide. Remus closed his eyes, trying to hold back the impending doom washing over him. For a moment, he felt nauseous, like he might puke. Wouldn’t that be just about the only thing to make this all worse?

“You know, um, when I made the OnlyFans joke, I thought it was a joke. I didn’t realize you actually had—”

“They’re not for a fan page,” Remus stuttered. He’d pulled his arms back in, giving up on getting his phone back now that Sirius had seen the evidence, although Remus couldn’t believe he was sliding his thumb up and down, still looking at the evidence. He shivered, that panic threatening to overwhelm.

All at once, Sirius let out a choked noise and practically threw the phone back at Remus. “Oh my god, I shouldn’t have been looking at those without your permission. I’m sorry!”

“It’s…” Remus closed his eyes and sighed, but he suspected he was turning red when he looked back down and saw which photo Sirius had finally stopped at. The black and white from above with Remus trying to look serene and his, well—Remus could see why it was a photo that would give Sirius pause. 

Feeling defeated, Remus snapped, “Next time, don’t go through my stuff when I say not to,” but he couldn’t bring himself to add any bite to it. The secret was out. Nothing to be done now.

Sirius’ voice was a bit weak as he replied, “Got it.” They sat awkwardly in silence for a moment, but Remus sensed rather than saw Sirius’ mood change. “It’s totally none of my business, and you can tell me to fuck off about it, but who exactly are you sending those to? Because honestly if I saw those out of context, I’d assume it was a premium service, and unless you’re real quiet about it, you’re not a cam boy.”

Cam boy? Sirius’ imagination was spinning, and that wasn’t good for anyone. Normally that meant bad pranks or nights that stayed fuzzy in his memories after. Right now Remus didn't even want to know what he was imagining.

Unable to do anything but admit the truth, Remus groaned and buried his face in his hands. “I- I met a guy on Bumble.” 

“One guy is getting all these?” Sirius sounded incredulous, and Remus looked up through his fingers only to look down at his lap again. Sirius’ reaction of awe wasn’t something he’d been prepared to deal with. 

“No, I didn’t actually send him anything,” Remus admitted. He’d already told enough of the story that he might as well continue. “He talked nice and everything, but I chickened out and told him I didn’t want to send anything. He’d already sent me one when I’d told him I was unsure, so he got really hostile about me owing him or whatever.”

“That’s bullshit. You don’t owe anyone anything in that kind of situation besides respect for human decency.”

“Thank you,” Remus said with a nod in Sirius’ direction.

“Wait.” Sirius’ pause was long enough to fray Remus’ nerves again before he asked, “So why do you have that many if you didn’t actually want to send anything? Some of those are kind of intense and… artistic or whatever.”

Remus shrugged. “I’d taken a couple already that I thought I might send him before I changed my mind and his true colors came out anyway. I’m glad I didn’t because he seemed like the revenge post kind. But when I went to delete the photos, I didn’t mind them. I actually kind of liked the lighting, and that felt dumb, but I kept the pictures anyway.”

“Last semester?” Sirius asked and laughed when Remus nodded. “You were seriously into that photography class. I just assumed it was because you loved Professor McGonagall. I mean she is great. I’m glad I let you talk me into her Photography Appreciation class, but I guess I didn’t realize you were thinking about the content outside of your course work. Or did you actually—”

“No,” Remus yelped. “I’ve never shown anyone. I’ve set up shots and kept the ones I liked and everything, but you’re the first person to actually see any of them.” As he said it, Remus felt a little lighter. Remus’ photos of himself had been a secret for months now, and he’d have to sit and think later about how he felt about it all.

Sirius cleaned his throat and managed to sound genuine as he said, “I am sorry. I wouldn’t have gone looking if I thought you’d actually have anything to hide.”

“I honestly don’t think you would have.” Sirius was many things and good at boundaries wasn’t one of them, but Remus did believe that he wouldn’t set up a friend for any kind of ridicule like this.

Sirius shifted on the couch. “So like, do you take them just because you like lighting or whatever you said?”

Remus bit his lip as he considered his best answer. While he didn’t think Sirius would use it against him if he realized Remus did find some pleasure in his photos, he also didn’t want to set up a joke. Not about this. “I guess it’s the idea of it? Like obviously I didn’t let anyone see them, but I kind of liked the idea that I could send them if I wanted or had anyone worth sending them to. 

“Plus, I kind of—and please don’t laugh at this, Sirius. I kind of liked the idea that when I feel like I look sexy or attractive, I can have the proof. I can have a photo that maybe doesn’t show everything or go anywhere, but it’s a reminder of a day I felt attractive, scars and all.”

Remus didn’t bring up his car accident scars very often, and he licked his lips as he waited for Sirius to reply. He wasn’t expecting the rueful smile or a casual promise of, “I think you’d be taking them every day then.”

“No,” Remus managed to get out around the lump in his throat. He spend enough time looking at Sirius and wishing he could be that effortless every day. No way could Sirius look at him and expect the same. “Just, sometimes.” 

Sirius nodded, and the two of them were left sitting in awkward silence. Eventually Sirius cleared his throat and stood up. “I should probably go… do my chem reading or something.”

“Yeah, probably,” Remus echoed.

Sirius made it to his bedroom doorway before he paused and looked back with the kind of wicked smirk Remus had been expecting all along. “And hey, Remus?”

“What?” he asked, despite his own suspicions.

“I like the lens flare one best. Very tasteful placement.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Remus groaned as Sirius ducked laughing around the corner. He flopped back onto the couch, grabbing a throw pillow to lay over his face. He suspected he was never going to live this down.

…

Remus kept waiting for Sirius to bring it up again, either in small snide comments or in front of their roommates, but he didn’t. Two weeks passed without Sirius saying a word. He hardly said anything to Remus at all, and Remus knew the tension couldn’t be in his own head. This was part of why he’d always stayed by the side. He’d looked at Sirius from afar since they’d all moved in together, and since discovery his enjoyment of photography, Remus had wanted to photograph his friend. But Remus had never asked. He’d been too afraid that he would expose himself, take photos that were too personal, too revealing of all that complicated stirring Sirius made him feel. Remus had never asked because he hadn’t want to ruin their friendship. It seemed somehow he had anyway.

Then one day while studying in his room, Remus heard James laugh from the kitchen and say, “What? Think extra credit comes with getting starkers?”

“Shut up!” Sirius exclaimed.

From his place in the bedroom, Remus flinched, but he figured he might as well get the teasing over with if Sirius had told James. He head his head high as he walked out to the kitchen, but when he arrived, James was grinning at a rather pained Sirius. “What’s going on?”

Sirius’ eyes snapped up, but it was James who answered first. “Apparently McGonagall announced a porn contest in class today.” 

“Not a _porn_ contest,” Sirius insisted. “Erotic photography.”

James chuckled. “What’s the difference? It’s still people stripping down and making coy faces for the camera.”

Remus was pretty sure his face was heating up, but hopefully James would just take it as embarrassment about the topic. “Why would McGonagall host something like that, though? Yeah, she’s got a few different classes, but I didn’t think any of her classes even covered nudity.”

“She’s not.” Sirius shrugged and looked down at the table. “She just gave us the information for it. I doubt anyone in class will even go since we don’t have any homework related to it or anything, but I guess she’s got people in that class who have also taken her hands on classes like you did and figured some of them may have wanted to enter.”

“Hands on,” James repeated, still grinning. “Think you want to enter and get a little ‘hands on’ there, Moony?”

“Not likely,” Remus said.

But somehow Remus found himself stopping by McGonagall’s office hours the following Tuesday, glad she was a creature of habit. He didn’t think he could have handled the mortification of asking Sirius when she was available.

“Mr. Lupin,” she said as he stepped through the door. “What a surprise. I hope your semester is going well.”

“It is.” Remus relaxed in her presence. She may have been a stern, commanding presence in class, but in her own way, McGonagall was incredibly warm. He didn’t miss the way she subtly slid a tin of cookies on her desk in his direction.

He took one with a quick thanks, and the two talked back and forth for a while about how Remus was enjoying his other classes and what art and photography installations the college was putting on. 

“That’s actually why I’m here,” he said, plucking up the courage. “One of my roommates is taking a class of yours right now, and he, um, mentioned an erotic photography contest?”

To her credit, McGonagall’s face didn’t change in the slightest at their new subject. “I did mention it in my classes. It’s not a university contest, but since the local gallery sponsoring it has always been great about showcasing student work, I make it a point to give them a bit of verbal publicity whenever it seems relevant. Were you hoping for information as an attendee for the final showcase or to submit work?”

Remus thought his face was probably as red as the sweater she was wearing, but he managed to keep his voice level as he said, “I was hoping to submit work. I, um, have some interest in the subject from last semester.” In his mind, he chanted a command over and over not to look away. This was a professional contest for professional photography; he couldn’t act like an embarrassed kid over it, even if that’s what he felt like.

McGonagall looked down and rummaged through a series of folders on her desk. She selected one and pulled out a flyer from it. “There you are. This has all the necessary information. It’s pretty open as far as photography requirements go. You have two weeks to submit your work, and the final gallery opens a month after that.” 

“Are there—” Oh, his face was burning, “—any stipulations about the photographer also being the subject?”

Once again, she showed no judgement. “There is actually a separate category for it because it comes with its own set of limits and challenges.”

Remus nodded and looked down to read through the information on it.

McGonagall cleared her throat, and he looked up. “I know this is a question that you may feel is a cross in boundaries, so I promise you I won’t be offended if you decline. You sound like you have some photos already prepared. Would you like some feedback? We can think about it as a mini-workshop if you would like.”

Remus bit his lip as he considered his options. On one hand, McGonagall would give him specific, matter-of-fact advice. On the other, he was considering showing her photos of his butt and other sensitive bits. Maybe he could avoid photos of anything too scandalous.

“They’re all of me,” he admitted.

She didn’t blink. “I can be professional. I promise you it’s not the first time I’ve seen compromising photos of a student, and I assure you that I have no interest in anything besides giving you advice.”

He coughed. “I didn’t think you would,” he said quickly. “Um, I do have some on my phone I was considering. Maybe I could show you the ones I like best.” He automatically scrolled to a photo where the corner showed part of his face with his lips parted, the rest of his pale scarred body stretched out behind him to fill most of the rest of the screen. Where his hips curved, a carefully magnified flare of light to keep the photo modest.  
If that first photo Remus pulled up was Sirius’ favorite, well, that wasn’t anything their professor needed to know.

…

Sirius sighed and dropped his phone down onto his bed. Remus’ photos had made this look so easy and so had the photos he’d found online, which he’d looked up to avoid the awkwardness of thinking about Remus. He was trying to keep in mind things he’d learned in class like the rule of thirds and photo composition. He’d even tried specifically recreating photos he had found online. Still, Sirius felt like he was getting nowhere. 

“I’m not creative enough for this,” he grumbled to himself as he flopped back. 

“Creative enough for what?”

Sirius swore and scrambled upright, shoving a pillow over his lap as James pushed open the door. He hadn’t latched it because no one else was home, but he had no idea how he’d managed to miss the sound of the front door opening.

James surveyed the room, taking it the odd positioning of Sirius’ lamp precariously tilted next to the bed, as well as the pillow barely covering his friend’s lap. Raising an eyebrow, he managed to stay quiet for only a few seconds. “Okay, I’ll bite. What are you doing?”

Sirius scowled back at him. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

With a snort, James draped himself across Sirius’ desk chair, not particularly concerned with Sirius’ state of undress. “Honestly? It looks like you’re taking some really weird steps to get yourself in the mood.” He chuckled at the huff Sirius let out and gestured toward his positioning on the bed. “Clearly that’s not the case, so do you care to share what’s actually going on?”

Sirius hesitated as he considered his options. “I’m trying to enter that photography contest.”

James frowned. “What contest?”

Sirius flopped back on the bed and groaned. If his pillow hadn’t been otherwise occupied, he would have thrown it over his head. “The—”

“Oh!” James cut in. “You mean the nude one.”

“It’s not a _nude_ contest. It’s for erotic photography. It’s art. People don’t actually have to be nude.”

“No, but that’s half the point.” James fell silent a moment, and Sirius opened his eyes to realize he was being studied. “No offense, but why do you want to do that anyway? I know you’re comfortable with your body and all, but that seems oddly specific.”

Remus’ bedroom habits weren’t something Sirius could casually discuss with James, especially when he wasn’t supposed to know them in the first place. Sirius couldn’t explain that he wanted to understand what it was that Remus found so appealing about taking the photos and why he put so much effort into editing them. He wanted to understand the power and desirability Remus felt when he looked at himself through a lens of his own making. But he couldn’t tell James any of that.

“I’m trying to figure out what’s so incredible around it,” he eventually said, knowing it was a lame answer. “Like it seems cool, and I wanted to figure it out.”

“Uh huh, and what’s not working? Your junk not attractive enough or something?”

Modesty be damned, Sirius sat up, lifted the pillow from his lap, and threw it at James’ head. It smacked his glasses and caused James to yelp, which was all the satisfaction he needed to now be naked in front of his best friend. Sirius at least had the decency to drop his hands into his lap and make it a little less noticeable.

Once James was done squawking, Sirius said, “I’m not taking dick pics. The goal is hopefully something that I can play up the odd lighting from the lamp, probably make it black and white because a quick internet search confirms that any nude can apparently be labeled erotic art if it’s in black and white.”

“That’s sketchy logic,” James pointed out.

“It is.” Sirius nodded sagely, forgetting his current state as he lifted a hand to gesture while he spoke. “However, if that seems to be the norm in at least some circles, I’m probably going to go with it to have a little less editing. The problem is that I can’t seem to line up my pictures right or have them take at the right moment, and it’s proving to be quite stressful.”

James raised an eyebrow. “So don’t take it of yourself. Then you can actually see what you’re doing. How hard can it be to find someone willing to post for a few photos?”

“First of all,” Sirius began, unable to actually share more than one reason when the second was that Remus apparently always took his own. “I don’t want to be that creepy guy asking people to undress so I can take their photos, and I have no idea if it counts as prostitution if I pay them for it.”

“Probably doesn’t,” James said with a shrug, “but that is a fair point.” He stood up and tossed the pillow back to Sirius, who caught it easily. He wasn’t expecting, though, that James would continue by reaching down and pulling his shirt off.

Sirius leaned forward, the pillow now securely tucked back in his lap. “What are you doing?”

“You just said you don’t want to be a creep and go asking for a model. Well, here I am. Now put some pants on. This is not going to be a taking-photography-in-the-buff situation.”

…

James was an asshole, Remus decided as he was pulled along by the arm. Remus had known entering a contest like this left him a little bit vulnerable through people he knew seeing it, but he hadn’t expected James to randomly announce out of the blue that they all had to go to the gallery’s opening night. He had a certain twinkle of mirth in his eye, but what solidified for Remus that he must know was his little side comment of, “Perhaps we’ll see someone rather familiar in all his handsome glory.”

Sirius had turned pale when he said it and refused to look at anyone else, so perhaps Sirius had broken his trust after all. That was a souring thought.

Still, Remus didn’t admit to entering. They’d have to find him themselves. Peter at least seemed clueless as to why they were going, and Remus supposed it was a small mercy that Lily wasn’t being dragged along too. She’d be furious if she found out James was setting him up for group ridicule like this. 

When they got there, James immediately started leading the way toward the black and white display, so Remus took that as a moment of blessing as he ducked away toward the self-portraits. He’d have time to see the category results and process not winning—because there were so many great photos, and how could he expect to top them all?—before James made a spectacle of him. Although he intended to be quick around his scanning, Remus was drawn in. He studied each photo, analyzing their poses and the special effects added to some for extra effect. Perhaps some of the people around him ogling the photos had a hard time wrapping their minds about this many boobs and butts in one place, but Remus focused on the art. The body parts were part of the subject matter and composition, just the same as an eye or hand in any other.

When Remus made it to the end of the self-portrait display without seeing his photo, he paused and glanced back down.

“It’s not there,” Sirius said, sounding almost shy.

Remus whirled around. He had almost forgotten his friends were there, but here was Sirius right up behind him. He swallowed hard and tried to sound disinterested as he asked, “How did you know I’d entered?”

Sirius shook his head. “I didn’t, but it’s over here.” 

Remus looked where he had referenced, pausing as he realized what display Sirius meant. “It isn’t,” he said firmly. There was no way Remus of all people was a winner.

“No money,” Sirius said quickly. “I don’t want to get your hopes up about that, but have a look.”

After glancing back at Sirius to figure out if it seemed like a joke, Remus headed toward the medalists for each category. Sirius was right that his photo wasn’t among the winners, but there he was gazing out at the viewers from the honorable mentions. 

Sirius was suddenly at his shoulder again, murmuring quietly, as though he didn’t want anyone to overhear. “I can’t believe you picked that one.”

“Were you hoping for something new?” Remus couldn’t help the slight tease in his voice, but he was pleased when Sirius sputtered in response. 

“I wasn’t hoping for anything at all. Honestly it’s amazing, Remus. I’m not surprised it made mention, although I am a little shocked it didn’t place.”

“Yes, well,” Remus said with a cough. “Quality lighting. Does wonders. And you might be biased on the placing part. Is that why you told James about it?”

Sirius scoffed. “I didn’t tell James.”

Remus turned around to face him, not caring that they were in the middle of a crowd. “Then why was he so insistent about coming?”

Sirius snorted and gestured behind him. “Come here.”

Remus did as directed and followed Sirius over to the black and white display James had been so keen to see already. He and Peter were still there, so Sirius elbowed James off to the side, letting Remus see the photo they’d been ogling.

It was James. The photo wasn’t as elegant as many of the other black and white ones around it, but it was clear that James was at least trying to look sensual as he arched and looked over his shoulder at the camera. His face was perhaps in a little too much shadow, but that seemed to be because the best lit part was his bum. Next to the photo, the title placard read, _“Test of Friendship” taken and edited by Sirius Black_.

There were plenty of photos Remus hadn’t seen yet, but in that moment, he could only focus his attention on Sirius. “You decided to enter?”

Sirius nodded, a quick jerked movement that was completely unlike his usual suave antics. “I wanted to understand the power you feel in your pictures.”

Remus ducked his head. He didn’t trust himself to look at Sirius directly right now. “And did you?”

Sirius chuckled and said, “I wish. I think I understand some of it editing, but I couldn’t get any photos of myself to turn out. I couldn’t make myself look anywhere as confident or as sexy as you did.”

Letting out a small noise of disbelief, Remus had no idea how that could be. Sirius was the most confident person Remus had ever met, and he could admit to considering him the sexiest too. The idea that he could look at Remus’ photos and see somehow more than that was crazy.

He glanced back up at the photo of James, but looking at his butt didn’t help. Instead Remus’ gaze continued up to the photo above it. He froze. In it were two men, both of them cropped out low on their hips, but the focus of the photo was one’s hand reaching out about to touch the other’s face. Both faces were full of longing and warmth. For a moment, Remus wondered how it could be over here. He hadn’t looked at the black and white finalists, but with such tenderness here, he couldn’t imagine they were better.

Remus finally looked back to Sirius, startled when he found the same expression there. “What do you see when you look at my photos?” he asked, hardly daring to verbalize it.

He saw the way Sirius’ breath changed, the moment of uncertainty in his eyes. 

“I see the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen,” Sirius replied. “I see someone with a natural knack to frame himself and who revealed a kind of poise that I can’t stop thinking about. I know you didn’t mean for me to see them and I’m still sorry I did without your consent, but I’m so glad I got to see that side of you. And…” Sirius took a deep breath, still boring holes into Remus’ eyes that left him wondering if his soul was as exposed right now as James’ ass on the wall.

“And I want to see that side of you again.” 

Remus’ breathing hitched, and Sirius must have taken that as a sign to continue.

“I want to see you in soft morning light, and I want you to look at me the way you look at your camera. I want to help you feel like you’re as attractive as those photos any moment of the day.”

“Why?” Remus asked. He immediately blushed. “You’ve seen lots of attractive people. Why me?”

“Because it is you.” Sirius reached up, mirroring the photo he hadn’t even seen. Unlike the photo, though, Remus could move, and he tilted his head to press his cheek against Sirius’ hand. “I’ve liked you for a while, Remus, but I figured it was something that would eventually fade. I don’t want it to. I want to be able to look at you and say exactly what I’m thinking.” His eyes flitted toward his own hand on Remus’ face, then over to the shorter man’s lips. “What is it you want?”

Remus licked his lips and considered his options. The answer was Sirius. It had been Sirius. He screwed up his courage, trying to play at being that suave, sexy person Sirius apparently saw him as.

“What do I want?” he repeated, allowing the slightest smirk to cross his face before he looked over at the photo of James. “I want to see you in front of the camera instead of behind it. I’d love you as a muse.”

A smile broke across Sirius’ face, and as he leaned in for a kiss, Remus plucked up the courage to add, “And I’d love to see you look a little less polished after.”


End file.
